Eat, drink, shop and socialize at Munich’s Viktualienmarket
It’s not all Wiesn and Oktoberfest when it comes to food and drink in Munich. What better place than a market, and not just any old farmers market, to sample the best and freshest products al fresco and take your week’s supply home in your basket.
One of the nicest and most colorful is the famous Viktualienmarkt, not far from the Town Hall and the Marienplatz.
Rathaus and Marienplatz
Until 1807 it was actually the Mareinplatz which was the biggest farmer’s market in Munich. It grew however too small and by royal decree of 1807, the market stalls were relocated to the area which is today known as the Viktualienmarkt. The name comes from the Latin word for food.
Severely damaged during WWII, there were plans to demolish the entire site and erect office buildings instead. Imagine that!! Luckily, reason prevailed and that’s why we can today visit and enjoy the absolute best and most colorful market which has come a long way from fresh fruit and vegetables. More than 140 stalls make for a gourmet haven. Fish, meat, sausage, bread, flowers, exotic and not so exotic fruit and vegetables are on offer six days a week.
Weisswurst
Smoked fish
Dampfnudel
You can enjoy samples of the delicacies at the stalls or do as the locals do, sit down on the wooden benches in one of the many restaurants and have Weisswurst and a beer before noon. That’s very important, because the real Weisswurst fans do not deem the sausage fit for consumption after 12 o’clock.
Zum Wohl
What I like best, apart from the food and the lively company are the fountains and statues which dot the area. Among them a memorial to the local comic Karl Valentin and this adorable statue of a typical bayerische Marktfrau who has always a bunch of fresh flowers in her arms.
